NeilJ, in addition, e-mail messages can take hours and, very exceptionally,
even days to reach their destination, regardless of the size. It depends on
what is happening at the nodes on the way. Remember that messages are
broken up when sent, the bits (so to speak) going all different routes (even
via Mars, if there were a network) and then being reassembled at the far
end.

In my view messages up to 5 MB should not present any problems anywhere, but
you never know... plus, your recipient/s may be using online mailboxes which
have filled up, though in such cases you should normally get a rejection
message advsiing you of same.

To find out total message size right-click on on message in Outbox and go to
Properties.

Message size-expansion does not happen only in OE.

BTW, what is the point of increasing the file size on receipt? We also need
to define what you mean. If a file was compressed before sending, it is
usually done in a 'lossy' way, which means that on expansion you won't
increase the quality back to what it was.

If it is just to increase the area in order to cover a particular paper size
on printing then that can be adjusted when printing, as you will be asked to
set the paper size.

I hope this helps.

DAS